Daniel Brühl

Born: June 16 1978
Where: Cologne, Germany

The rising star of German cinema first came to attention outside his homeland in Wolfgang Becker's Good Bye Lenin!

The movie, about a socialist coma victim who doesn't realise the Berlin Wall has fallen, was seen by 3.5m Germans in a month, making it the country's most successful film ever.

Bruhl first appeared on the big screen in Miguel Alexandre's The Agreement, which he followed with Bloody Serious and Schlarffenaland in 1999.

He made his breakthrough in No More School in 2000 and later won plaudits for his performances in No Regrets, The White Noise and Vaya Con Dios.